Biography

José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) is a blind Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer, known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".

In 1964, he released his first single "Everybody Do the Click." Later, in 1965 and 1966, he also released his first albums “The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano” and “A Bag Full of Soul,” two folk-pop-soul albums that showcased his talent on radio across the U.S.

In 1970, he wrote and released an album of Christmas music, “Feliz Navidad,” which may be deemed to be his most famous recording. The title song has been covered by many artists and is now a traditional part of the musical landscape in the U.S, Canada and Latin America around Christmas time. Each year during the Christmas season, "Feliz Navidad" returns to US airwaves, one of the most-played and most-downloaded radio songs and downloaded songs of the season. "Feliz Navidad" is also recognized by ASCAP as one of the 25 all-time most-played Christmas songs in the world.

He received a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987, and continued as a very popular singer during the 1980s.

On December 6, 2006, Feliciano's new Spanish album, “José Feliciano y amigos” was released by Universal Records, featuring Feliciano joined in duets with many other Latin American stars including Luis Fonsi, Lupillo Rivera, Luciano Pereyra, Rudy Pérez, Cristian Castro, Marc Anthony, Ramón Ayala, Alicia Villarreal, Ricardo Montaner, and Raúl di Blasio. A special edition was later released and featured Ana Gabriel and Gloria Estefan.

In 2007, Feliciano released an album called “Soundtrack of My Life,” the first English-language album composed and written by him.

In 2009, after winning his 8th Grammy for the album “Senor Bolero,” he left Siente music and released two new English-language albums for digital download only from his personal websites, one dedicated to American Classics, including songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, and the other dedicated to an instrumental album in homage to jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt who inspired Feliciano, and features Feliciano's song "Djangoisms." A single from the Kumbia All Starz features him and the internationally famous Tejano band, Los Dinos, which was released April 28, 2010